His time in New Zealand ended in tragedy; he was involved in an auto accident in which a young woman was killed and he suffered a broken leg. As he remembers it,

“

It was pretty horrific. I was trapped and my head hit the steering wheel. When I came round, my car was inside hers. Both cars were alight. My seatbelt wouldn’t open. I bent my seat backwards getting out. Her car was an inferno. I couldn’t get near it so started crawling up the road.[2]

”

He returned to the UK when a Welsh coach who had worked with White at Hawke's Bay told him that Bridgend desperately needed a tighthead.[2] White played for Bridgend in 1998/9 before moving to Saracens in 1999. He swiftly made his Premiership debut in the 28–23 defeat of London Irish at Vicarage Road, Watford on the opening weekend of the season.

At the start of the 2001-02 season he transferred back to the West Country with Bristol Shoguns. This occurred after a protracted affair where White had attempted to get out of the contract he had signed with Bristol. White did not endear himself to Bristol supporters as he had tried to break out of his contract to join bitter local rivals Bath. In the event, White did become a Bristol player.[3] Along with team-mate Daryl Gibson, he joined Leicester Tigers for the 2003–04 season after Bristol were relegated. Replacing the retiring Darren Garforth, his Leicester debut was held over as he was in Australia on duty with England at the 2003 Rugby Union World Cup.

During the World Cup he was in the starting line up against Samoa and came on as a replacement against Uruguay. As part of the victorious squad White earned himself an MBE.[4]

In 2004 White took the opportunity to demonstrate his scrummaging skills in the England front row during the 6 Nations and the summer tour to the Southern Hemisphere.

Prior to the 2007 Rugby Union World Cup, White made himself unavailable for selection[5] and did not feature in another England game. In January 2009, it was announced that he had been selected for the England Saxons squad.[6][7] With the suspension of Matt Stevens it was announced in 2009 that he had been called up to the full England squad in 2009 as a replacement for Stevens.[8]

White met his wife since 2004, Sara, in a Cardiff bar when he was, by his own admission, "completely twisted" (i.e., drunk). She has proven to be a good influence on him in many ways, perhaps none more significant than when she bought him a cow as a Christmas present. The gift sparked an interest in animals and farming; since then, he has purchased and rented land near the village of Stoke Albany, and now farms 300 acres (120 ha) in the area, keeping 200 head of cattle and 300 ewes as of late 2009. He plans to continue farming after the end of his rugby career, envisioning a business of selling high-quality beef and lamb to restaurants and eventually supermarkets. He and Sara currently have two daughters.[2]